In my role as an eCommerce Recruiter, I am often asked: What in your opinion makes a good eCommerce Manager, Director or Vice President?

As an eCommerce recruiter who has placed more than 120 eCommerce leaders over the past 15 years- and who has devoted an entire chapter in my book to that very question- there are seven keys to the job: User experience (mobile and desktop), customer acquisition, improving conversion rates through good UI/UX and use of analytic tools, defining KPI’s, generating C-level friendly P and L reports, strategic, and good leadership skills.

Jerry has literally “written the book” on recruitment in digital marketing and ecommerce. His book, “Careers in Ecommerce and Digital Marketing,” the first book of its kind on hiring, educational preparation, and the outlook for employment opportunities in ecommerce and digital marketing, plus profiles of many of the nation’s top digital marketing and ecommerce practitioners, is available in the Kindle Store on Amazon.

Jerry Bernhart launched and ran directmarketingcareers.com for 7 years. He is the only ecommerce recruiter in the U.S. who has had hands-on experience launching, designing and managing a nationally marketed commercial ecommerce business. In 1995, Jerry recognized that the internet was going to be a business game changer. He was the first direct marketing recruiter to have a website, and working literally at the kitchen table he designed and coded more than 70 web pages, including multiple internal search engines, to create one of the very first marketing-specific job posting websites. He engaged the West Group ad agency to design the logo and manage print advertising and PR. At its peak, directmarketingcareers.com featured more than 600 job postings representing a who’s who of leading online brands including Eddie Bauer, Amazon, eBay, Office Depot, Dell, CDW, Newegg, Victoria’s Secret, Williams-Sonoma, Systemax, L.L. Bean, Orchard Brands, Macy’s, Overstock.com, buy.com, Musician’s Friend, Cabela’s Nike, Oriental Trading, Abercrombie & Fitch, peapod, plus hundreds more. directmarketingcareers.com twice made the CareerXRoads list of top specialized job posting websites. “Hundreds of candidates got jobs through directmarketingcareers.com. It gave me the in-the-trenches experience and knowledge to speak at a deep level with employers about their ecommerce needs, from a technical as well as strategic perspective. This is truly what sets me apart.”

Quoted extensively by leading marketing resource and research publications, including AdAge, Bloomberg, CMO Council, the DMA, CBS Radio, MarketingProfs and many more, on issues related to recruitment and hiring ecommerce-related talent. For the past three years, this ecommerce recruiter has been a panelist at “The State of Digital Media Marketing” conference at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, one of the nation’s top gatherings of subject matter experts, college-level instructors and thought leaders in the space.

Client was looking to raise the level of expertise in all aspects of online marketing, particularly ecommerce. This particular company operates largely on an offline MLM business model and wanted to aggressively expands its online acquisition marketing efforts. They wanted someone who could interact with product managers and other departments, including executive level management, but also needed to be highly proficient with SEO/SEM, sponsored links, banner adds, mobile and email because of the small size and experience level of staff. It was also critical that they understand how their work impacts the overall business goals (something we put a great deal of emphasis on). Candidate has been in the position for two years making significant accomplishments, and in fact, his duties and responsibilities have been expanded as a result of his success to date.

Client is a Fortune 500 financial services firm looking at the time to hire its first Online Marketing and Ecommerce VP. The company was doing very little of its business online and falling behind the curve as competitors were making a major push towards digital marketing. A recognized expert in paid search, organic search, email and behavioral banner advertising, our candidate has delivered far beyond expectations as the business becomes a recognized player in the online space in its industry. Among his many accomplishments: Increased natural search traffic by 30% due to website technical changes, link-building and onsite optimizations; created a triggered email program based on visitor and buyer past behavior and purchases, increasing email revenue by 15%; spearheaded the creation of a new corporate website.

Bernhart Associates was engaged to recruit a Director of Ecommerce for an $80M consumer marketer, in a confidential replacement search. The new position represented a level up from the incumbent. Reporting to the President, this position was responsible for driving all ecommerce revenue through a broad strategic approach managing website structure, design, content, navigation, SEM, PPC, web analytics, information architecture, branding, and site functionality, all of this in a high SKU environment. The site was experiencing a higher than satisfactory cart-abandonment rate and the client was also focused on growing organic traffic, boosting ROI on paid traffic and increasing conversation rates. Being able to work cross-functionally with other team members was also going to be key in the context of this particular organization’s culture. My candidate has been on the job nearly 3 years, and already has been awarded with a VP title for his accomplishments.

For the past 24, years, our reputation has been earned by providing leading companies top performing multichannel and ecommerce marketing talent under the most demanding deadlines, who meet and exceed expectations. Jerry Bernhart’s articles and interviews appear frequently in many industry leading ecommerce-related trade publications, newsletters and research organizations.

A proud member of many regional and national multichannel marketing associations, the Minnesota Association of Personnel Services, Database Marketing Institute and Advisory Board of Data University.a Association of Personnel Services, Database Marketing Institute and Advisory Board of Data University.